Athletes for Care hopes to change the public's perception of cannabis -- and professional athletes.

During the day, the prescription opiates stung like a knife in Eben Britton’s gut. At night, cravings for the pills prescribed to manage pain caused by six years as a NFL offensive lineman roused him from his sleep.

But on this sunny Saturday morning in Denver’s Berekley Lake Park, Britton was all smiles, palming a rubber kickball he prepared to pitch in the Athletes For Care (A4C) kickball game during Denver’s 420 Games.

Britton found another way — another means of managing the pain, the depression, the anxiety, the head-rattles that plague careers and trigger darker struggles for some athletes well into retirement: cannabis as part of a holistic approach to healing.